A Day in the Life of Merlin
by Nurmengardx
Summary: Introducing a new character
1. Chapter 1

Merlin started as the cold water splashed his face. Falling out of bed he struggled to disentangle himself from his sheets. He wiped the wet hair out of his eyes and looked up to see the smug face of Arthur towering over him. He leaned down and looked Merlin straight in the face and he sucked in a slow breath, turning his face away from Arthur's arrogant face.

'Merlin,' he said slowly. 'You're late.' Merlin closed his eyes and groaned, he had been up late the night before, saving Arthur's behind as usual. Arthur stood up abruptly and turned away.

'I need you to polish my armour, clean my chambers, muck out the stables and don't be late for the council meeting, you'll be serving the drinks. Well don't just sit there Merlin!' he exclaimed, seeing him still sat on the floor. 'You are by far the laziest servant I've ever had!'

'Well why don't you get a new one then?' Merlin asked wearily.

'Don't tempt me Merlin!' he called as he stamped out of the door. 'Hurry up and get on with my armour before I have you put in the stocks!'

Meanwhile, beyond the walls of Camelot, a swordsman awaits his opportunity.

Merlin made his way along the corridor towards the council chambers, taking care not to spill the pure water in his jug, grumbling as he went.

'Muck out the stables, I'm not the stable boy, although he must be on strike or something because those stables are disgusting, and why does he have to have so much armour? He's got all his knights and bodyguards to protect him…' stopping as he reached the giant doors he shouldered his way in.

'Well look who decided to show up!' said Arthur contemptuously. Merlin rolled his eyes but held his tongue. 'Hurry up and serve Uncle a drink will you?' turning back to the large map on the table. 'Do you think Morgana will try to retake control of Cenred's kingdom?'

'She could,' Agrivaine said silkily as Merlin served him his drink. 'However I doubt she will, if you remember it was Morgause who killed Cenred and I don't think his men will be very pleased to see her sister within their borders.' Merlin shook his head. Of course he would know that, working with Morgana certainly gave one an insight in to her plans it seemed, he should come up with a plan to unmask Agrivaine as the traitor he was. Merlin drifted in to a daydream in which he revealed Agrivaine and everyone knew he was the hero. Suddenly he heard the scraping of metal on metal outside the door, he whirled to face it as the knights and Arthur drew their swords, Merlin smirked as he saw the look of terror on Agrivaine's face. The sound of scraping metal stopped and the doors burst open, a figure completely clad in chain mail, with an intricately patterned, iron helm. Merlin watched the figure carefully, waiting for a sign that he had been magically interfered with.

Arthur walked slowly around the table, sword twitching in his hand, alertly flicking his eyes around the room. They circled one another, waiting for someone to make the first move. Arthur's stance shifted and he jumped across the majority of the space, running the rest with his sword held stiffly above his head, ready to bring it down on his opponent's head with a crushing blow. Just as Merlin thought that Arthur had won, his opponent nimbly sidestepped, using Arthur's momentum against him to push him to the ground with the pommel of his sword. Arthur rolled on to his back but before anyone could move the swordsman flicked his sword up to Arthur's throat. Everyone held their breath as they watched, waiting for him to make his next move, when he started making a strange noise beneath his helmet. He was laughing! He stepped back and lowered his sword to the ground. While Arthur got to his feet he moved his hand up to his helmet, poised to remove it. He pulled it off and out fell thick, frizzy, blonde curls tumbling down his back. Merlin did a double take, squinting at his face and realised it was a girl. He studied her face and stared, mesmerised by her shimmering blue eyes. He felt a tingling down his spine as he felt a strong force emanating from her.

'Elaine!' Arthur gasped. She grinned widely.

'You could never best me cousin,' her voice was sweet as honey. Arthur gaped at her then saw his knights still had their swords drawn.

'It's all right,' he said loudly. 'This is Elaine, my cousin,' he smiled and clapped her on the shoulder. 'Merlin fetch some food, I'm sure you're hungry after your journey,' laughing as the guards poked their heads around the door, huge grins on their faces.

'You always were the gentleman Arthur but you forgot to say please to your servant- Merlin isn't it?' she stopped and looked at him properly. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours until Arthur got impatient.

'Well get on with it Merlin!' he snapped. Merlin bowed awkwardly, leaving the room quickly, almost running.

'Are you all right?' he asked Elaine. She smiled again, if somewhat strained.

'Yes I'm fine,' she said weakly. 'Does Gaius still work here?'

'Yes, do you wish to see him? You look pale,' he frowned concernedly.

'No I'm fine, I just need some food is all.'

'All right well come take a seat, there's a spare one next to Uncle there,' she moved towards the table but instead of sitting in the seat next to Agrivaine,as Arthur had indicated, she took the space next to Sir Leon and glared at Agrivaine warily.

Merlin walked quickly back down the corridor with a large platter of food. What was that strange force he had felt? It must have been magic, he reasoned. He barged back through the doors and handed Elaine her food without once looking at her.

'Sir, Gaius needs my help with some remedies, may I be excused?' Arthur looked at him in surprise.

'Why Merlin, you've grown some manners! Are you feeling all right?' he went to put a hand on Merlin's forehead and he flinched away. 'Of course you can go Merlin,' Arthur laughed and Merlin left scowling.

'What's up with him?' asked Gwaine.

'I have no idea. Just Merlin being Merlin I suppose,' Arthur said dismissively. 'Now, about Cenred's lands…'

'Gaius!' Merlin called as he let himself in to their chambers. 'Gaius!'

'Merlin?' he said, appearing from behind a bookcase. 'What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the council meeting. Are you all right? You look pale.'

'There's a sorcerer in there with them,' he said plainly.

'And you just left them in there? Are you insane!' he exclaimed, brandishing a heavy looking book.

'Gaius I felt her power, I've never felt anything like it. She might even be more powerful than Morgana.' Gaius sat down in his chair heavily.

'Well if that's the case then there's not much either of us can do about it. You can barely hold your own against Morgana as it is.'

'Thanks Gaius.' They both jumped as someone knocked on the door.

'Come in,' called Gaius. Merlin gaped as Elaine poked her head around the door.

'Gaius you are still here- Merlin!' she said, seeing him in the chair. He smiled tightly and moved his hand in a half-hearted wave.

'Elaine!' cried Gaius. 'It's so good to see you, I see you've already met Merlin. Oh Merlin I need you to go and tidy your room. Go on!' he jabbered excitedly.

'You know Elaine, Gaius?' Merlin enquired.

'Of course Merlin! Now go, your room's a mess, what must Arthur think?' Merlin couldn't care less what Arthur thought of his room but obeyed anyway, grumbling all the way up the stairs and slamming the door behind him.

'Gaius who is he?' Elaine asked, collapsing in to a chair as soon as it was safe.

'He's the son of a friend of mine,'

'He's a sorcerer, what is he doing here?' she hissed.

'How did you-?'

'I felt it Gaius, he's powerful so what is he doing here? Is he after Arthur?'

'No of course not!'

'Then what? Did you know about him?' she leaned forward, staring at him across the table.

'Of course I know about him, if you must know I'm looking after him,' Gaius said defensively.

'If he's that powerful then he must be able to sense me, right?'

'Yes, he can and has.'

'Well I'd best go talk to him then, tell him I'm not going to kill Arthur…'

'No!' cried Gaius, stopping Elaine in her tracks.

'Why? I can't imagine he's met many friendly sorcerers, not around here anyway.' She said, raising her eyebrows.

'Just let me talk to him, because you're quite right, he hasn't met any 'friendly' sorcerers so he'll only believe someone he trusts,' he explained. Elaine shrugged and nodded.

'All right Gaius, just don't take too long about it, you know what people and magic are like,' she sighed and stood up, cringing as Merlin crashed down the stairs.

'I'm ok,' he croaked. 'I'll finish that later, I still need to clean Arthur's chambers, I bet he's left everything all over the floor again. He's king now so why he doesn't know how to fold his own clothes by now is completely beyond me. Elaine,' he said, bowing stiffly. He walked out of the door huffily, catching his tunic on the handle as he went, causing two identical grins to spread across Gaius and Elaine's faces.

'I must get back to the council meeting Gaius. It appears I must keep an eye on that uncle of mine. Remember, don't take too long,' she said pointedly and followed Merlin out of the room, leaving Gaius with his thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

'How can you have him here after everything he did?' Elaine demanded, bursting into Arthur's chambers.

'Excuse me?' he said.

'Agrivaine,' she growled. Merlin shrunk into the corner and watched Elaine confront Arthur. It was good to see someone else on the same page as him about Agrivaine. The anger in her voice caused Arthur to physically take a step back.

'He's all right now Elaine-'

'All right? He killed my father and sent me and my mother into exile! I can't believe you would trust him for even a second. He broke his own sister's heart Arthur!' the memory of it clearly still tortured her and Merlin could already see tears pricking her eyes.

'Hey! Hey it's ok,' Arthur said calmly. Merlin couldn't believe his eyes as Arthur pulled her into a comforting hug. He never hugged anyone, except Gwen of course. 'He's been very supportive since Father died. I think he's finally trying to make up for what he did.'

'You think so? You must be sure Arthur,' she said.

'Yes of course. I wouldn't have him here otherwise would I?' he smiled reassuringly and she pulled out of the hug.

'You haven't told anyone about…?'

'Not in a million years.' She nodded and then spotted Merlin in the corner.

'Oh Merlin! I'm so sorry!' she hurriedly wiped her eyes and stepped away from Arthur, Merlin's eyes betraying his suspicion. He shrugged and continued polishing one of the cabinets.

'I've thrown a feast in your honour Elaine. You should have sent a messenger so I could have arranged for entertainment, however it should suffice in welcoming you back to Camelot,' Arthur said formally.

'Oh Arthur you shouldn't have,' she gasped.

'Yes well, it's my pleasure,' he smiled. Merlin groaned quietly. More work for him.

'Ah but I've nothing to wear,' she said. Her eyes clouded. She had not wanted to disappoint her cousin so soon.

'That's quite all right, we have some spare clothing for such an occasion,' he smiled, however both he and Merlin neglected to mention that they had once belonged to Morgana.

'Well ok but do you have someone that could help me with my hair? I'm afraid it's a bit of a mess,' she asked, self-consciously fiddling with her bushy blonde mess.

'Of course. I know just the person,' he said, fondly thinking of Guinevere.

'Right. Well I hope to see you in target practice cousin,' she smiled mischievously and walked gracefully out of the room.

'Ok Merlin go and get my bow ready. You know I like a challenge.' Merlin rolled his eyes and made to leave the room to find Arthur's disused bow when Arthur grabbed his upper arm. 'Breathe a word of this Merlin and I'll have your head on a spike,' he breathed in Merlin's ear. He nodded and lowered his eyes and then rushed away.

After beating Arthur at target practice Elaine stood facing a mirror, trying to decide which of the luxurious dresses to wear, finally deciding on a silky golden, floor length dress. She slipped herself into it and, making sure no one was about to walk in, used her magic to take in the rich material a little. Whoever had worn this before had a slightly fuller figure than her. They probably hadn't endured such rigorous training as her. There was one clasp at the back that she could quite reach, about to use magic she jumped when a very pretty girl walked in behind her.

'Oh! You must be Guinevere,' she said.

'Yes m'lady,' Gwen curtsied.

'There's really no need for that. Please call me Elaine,' she said.

'Only if you call me Gwen,' Gwen replied.

'Of course,' Elaine laughed. She could see why her cousin was so fond of this girl. 'It's nice to meet you Gwen.'

'Likewise,' she smiled.

'I was wondering Gwen, if you could do this clasp for me. I can't seem to reach it.'

'That's what I'm here for.' Gwen already liked this Elaine, and when she had her sit in the chair before the mirror she was immediately struck by how similar she was to Arthur. They had the same eyes, and their hair was the same shade of blonde. 'I might have to be a bit rough with your hair, is that ok?' Gwen asked, eyeing the tangled mess of hair.

'That's fine. I often find that I need to almost pull it out of my head to rid it of all the tangles, so feel free to use any force necessary,' she smiled grimly at the state of her hair.

Twenty minutes of pulling, brushing and pinning later Gwen had managed to subdue her hair into a suitable bun and even pinned in a passable fringe. For the final touch Elaine inserted small diamonds into her ears and hung a simple silver chain around her neck. At that moment Arthur knocked on the door.

'Can I come in?' he asked.

'Yes I'm just about done,' she called. He slowly poked his head around the door and fully entered the room. Taking in how neat Elaine's hair was looking he smiled widely at Gwen.

'Guinevere you are a genius! She looks wonderful!' Gwen simply smiled shyly. 'There is still one missing ingredient though. Here,' he pulled a dainty, diamond studded tiara and placed it carefully on her head. She gasped at it.

'Oh Arthur! I couldn't possibly-'

'Yes you can. You are part of the royal family, a Lady in your own right, now please wear it.' She grudgingly accepted it and gave him a warm hug. Gwen watched on, a warm glow forming in her stomach. It was good to see Arthur interacting well with his relations. Elaine was one of the few remaining family members left to him, and there was something about Agrivaine that made her insides crawl. 'Guinevere I thank you for sparing some time to help Elaine, you've done an excellent job. Could you please join Merlin in the banquet hall and help him set the places?' he smiled at her, eyes twinkling.

'Yes sir,' she said as she hurried away.

'How many times Gwen? It's Arthur!' he called after her, chuckling to himself. Elaine giggled quietly. 'What?' he asked.

'Nothing, it's just that not many people treat their servants as well as you do,' she said pointedly.

'Yes well, ahem. I count them more as my friends than servants,' he said uncomfortably. He was obviously lying but she decided not to press him any further. 'We need to get going soon, everyone's expecting us,' he diverted the conversation away from Gwen, much to the amusement of Elaine.

'Ok hold on a second.' She went back to her trousers and pulled a ring from her pocket. Arthur looked curiously over her shoulder and felt a pang in his gut as she put the intricate amber and copper ring on her finger. Their mothers had had a matching pair so that whenever they looked at it they would be reminded of each other. His mother's was tightly tied on a string that always hung around his neck. That Elaine had her mother's now could only mean one thing.

'Elaine. Where's Aunt Joanne?' he asked quietly.

'She's running an errand in Ealdor right now. She should be here any day now,' she said without meeting his eyes. She pretended to busy herself in tidying the already spotless dressing table when Arthur gently caught her wrist.

'Then why are you wearing her ring?'

'How did you…?' stopping dead as Arthur pulled his from his tunic. 'Oh.'

'What happened Elaine?' his eyes sad.

'It was a long illness. Everyone tried their hardest but in the end she couldn't cope without my father. She passed around the same time as Uncle Uther did.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' he asked.

'I couldn't be sure that Uncle Uther would accept me because of my _gifts. _Then I find that he's gone too so I decided to pay you a visit.' Arthur had to admire the way she put on a brave face and it saddened him to think that it was his father's lack of acceptance that had driven one of the only remaining links to his mother away. He followed her example and put on a brave face, tucking his mother's ring safely away.

'Come on! Everyone's waiting. They're so excited to see their favourite Lady,' he said brightly, instantly lightening the mood. He held out his arm and she took smiling. They made their way happily towards the feast where beaming faces and excellent food were waiting for them.

Meanwhile Merlin was getting impatient. First Arthur springs this feast on him, and now he had the audacity to be late. He wasn't going to take it, and he was going to go and find him and tell him so himself when Gwen ran in through the giant doors to stand next to him. She only needed to take one look at his face to guess what he was thinking.

'Don't worry, he's on his way,' she said exasperatedly, Merlin pursing his lips in annoyance. 'She looks beautiful by the way,' she said slyly.

'What? Who?' he said, not realising that she was talking about the very same person he was thinking of. Running through exactly what he'd heard her say earlier.

"You haven't told anyone about…?"

"Not in a million years." What had she meant?

'Lady Elaine of course,' Gwen laughed, interrupting his thoughts.

'Oh so she's a Lady now?' he scoffed.

'Don't be like that Merlin. It's hardly her fault she's related to Arthur,' they both burst into laughter, only stopping when Arthur and Elaine finally arrived, making a grand entrance as Arthur's way of introducing everyone to her.

'Good evening everyone. I'd like to thank you all for coming on such short notice, however I think you will all agree that it is worth it to celebrate the long awaited return of Lady Elaine,' he smiled widely around at all of them.

'I heard she was exiled because she's a sorcerer,' someone shouted out. Elaine's happy expression faltered and Arthur's sharpened.

'In an attempt to dispel these wild rumours I would like to clarify that Elaine is not a sorcerer, nor has she ever been accused of being one. Herself and her family moved to smaller, more peaceful grounds in order for Lady Joanne to recover from her illness. Is that understood? Good now please continue the celebrations.' Merlin watched in disgust as Elaine held on to Arthur's arm all the way across the room. He knew what he had felt earlier, and what he had heard in Arthur's chambers. She might have fooled Arthur, but not him. He knew what she was and he knew that she was lying through her teeth to get to the crown and he, Merlin, was going to put a stop to it, no matter how beautiful she looked in that golden dress. And that's when he saw it. The heavy chandelier hanging above her head. He used his magic to slowly unscrew the bolts keeping it attached to the stone ceiling. Elaine was taking a sip of her honeyed mead when she heard a strange sound above her. Looking up she paled when she saw one of the bolts unscrewing itself. She quickly put a stop to that with her own magic, however she felt the one thing she dreaded, the unique mark of another sorcerer. She looked around and froze as she saw the gold fading from Merlin's eyes. Her face quickly turned white, the pale green and finally grey. She couldn't handle this.

'I'm sorry Arthur, I don't feel very well,' she mumbled, standing abruptly and dashing out of the room, quickly followed by Gaius, who threw Merlin the what-have-you-done-now glare, causing him to roll his eyes. He was doing what was best for Camelot and if he was the only one that could see that then so be it.

* * *

**A/N Hello! Who remembers me? No one? Didn't think so. I'm really really sorry about not updating this. After I finished the first chapter I immediately got stuck on the second. I even tried writing other fics to fix it, unfortunately I didn't get unstuck until yesterday so,again, really sorry. Oh and sorry about the lack of things happening in this chapter. I wanted to develop Elaine's character and her relationship with Arthur. This was a really long note. Thanks for reading :D**


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